


D-War: Aftermath

by Dragonkeeper14



Category: D-War
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:47:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22342063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonkeeper14/pseuds/Dragonkeeper14
Summary: The wanderings and wonderings of protagonist 'Ethan', on his way home, and the gentle process of his recovery…





	1. The Long Walk

It was a long way back to the city, from Buraki's dark tower in the desert.

As he went, Ethan had a long time to think, and think he did. 

He thought, as he walked: 'I'll miss Sarah. What was I thinking, trying to get her out? I wish Jack had stayed. Will I ever see him again, or is he gone for ever? Maybe I'll see Sarah in the afterlife. No: the Celestial Dragon took her to Heaven, and not to the Heaven people go when they die. It's not the afterlife, and it's not anyplace I know, either. I'm not going there, unless that's my fate when I die myself. Can I die? Or does the spirit of Haram, my previous incarnation, keep me alive, as his mentor Bochun's did Jack? I don't have Haram's memories, so I can't answer. I wish I knew. Jack told me some stories of what we did together, as Bochun and Haram, but I don't remember them as if I'd lived them myself'. 

A little later, he said to himself: 'How long have I walked? There's no food or water out here, or any way to judge the passage of time. But I don't feel hungry or thirsty, or tired. It must be Haram's medallion keeping me alive. 

This medallion, now. It destroyed all Buraki's evil minions at a touch! But it couldn't harm Buraki, because its power was the Light of Heaven, and he came from Heaven himself. It took the Celestial Dragon's fiery breath to kill him. 

What kind of power could this medallion be? No telling. It's some kind of exotic energy, more powerful than anything I've ever known;–– except, I must have known it, when I was Haram, which I don't remember. It must have been his spirit, or whatever it was, that made me take Sarah out of the city, to hide from both good and evil. He wasn't thinking straight, when he tried that on Narin, her previous incarnation, and neither was I. I wasn't really myself, then; I was Haram. Is there a difference? Am I him, and still myself? Is myself-as-Ethan only another version of myself-as-Haram? Can two souls co-exist in a single body? Or are we only one? Can I take responsibility for anything he did? Is he responsible for any act of mine? Or are we simply born to the same fate? Was it always meant to happen this way? I nearly made a mess of it, and he really made one, when he saved Narin from Buraki but failed to present her to the Good Imoogi. I almost did the same. It was only our good luck the Good Imoogi showed up when he did; or was it divine intervention? A destiny fed up with getting foiled?.

I nearly fouled the whole thing up, and Haram really did. Could the fate of the whole world hang on such a slender thread? Or was it really the only one, after all? Could rituals like that have gone on, all over the world? That makes a little more sense. Could all the dragonslayer stories be nothing more than stories of mistakes like mine and Haram's, but more successful? Haram rescued Narin, Perseus rescued Andromeda, Jason stole Medea, George rescued Una, and I tried to rescue Sarah. McDunn and Co., didn't even have the Yeoyiju, and so the Imoogi wrecked the lighthouse instead. Maybe, even Adam rescued Eve, if it was really Eve who first made the promise to the Imoogi. Hercules stole the Yeoyiju;–– which one of the Hesperides had it? Any or all. We were wrong, all of us. We tried to save just one person, because each of us valued her more, at that moment, than we did the whole world. History is full of bloodshed and misery, and it could have been alleviated, if this ritual had gone properly. Or could it? The maiden in each case was supposed to go to the dragon, so Heaven would be pleased and Earth would prosper. We saved the maiden instead, and the world went wrong. But the dragon, or serpent, in all these rescues, was supposed to be trying to take the maiden by force, like a rejected lover. Maybe Buraki wasn't the first to try without permission. And dragons generally were hunted to extinction on Earth, if they ever lived here at all, in revenge.

Either way, the only loser living, is me. I lost the love of my life, and I don't know whether I'll ever love again. I suppose I have to, just to stop myself dying of a broken heart;–– or worse, living with one. I don't suppose I'll tell anyone at home the whole truth, if I get home. I'll say, "Sarah went to Heaven", and let the world make of that what they will. They'll think she's dead. I'll have to live with that. They'll never take the whole truth. Religion and myth have been crying Wolf too long to be believed.

That reminds me: where did our dragon go? I saw him go to Heaven, but what does that mean? Heaven isn't any place known to geography, and it isn't in space, or in Earth's sky. It's here, and yet not here; in another dimension, as kids say. A parallel reality. Am I still in my own world, now? Or did Buraki's army take me to another? All I know is, which way to go for home; and I don't know how I know that. Maybe the medallion's telling me; or, rather, guiding me, like a compass or homing-device'.

With these and other ruminations coursing slowly through his tired mind, the young man pressed on, hour after hour, until he crested a set of hills and looked down on the well-known skyline of his native city. Then down he went, into the streets.


	2. A Warm Welcome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ethan returns to civilization…

Down the hill he went, into the San Fernando Valley; and as fate and fortune would have it, into the arms of his friend Bruce, and Bruce's wife Tina.

Said Bruce: 'Ethan! M' God, man! Where've y' bin?! Wha' happ'ned? W've bin s' worri'd abou' yah! Where's Sarah?'.

Ethan answered: 'She's not comin' back'.

Said Bruce: 'Ah'm sorry t' hear th't. By Gaw, Ethan, y' look like y've bin thro' a war. Wha' happ'ned ou' th're?'.

Said Ethan: 'I don' wanna talk abou' it righ' now, Bruce. Wha' I need righ' now is some rest. Maybe lunch and somethin' t' drink. Maybe a shave. Mainly I jus' need some rest'.

Said Bruce: 'O' c'rse. Come on, ol' buddy', and led Ethan home. 

Said Ethan: 'Is this my apartment? I thought they'd've gi'en i' t' someone by now'.

Bruce answered: 'They w're gonna; bu' we paid t' keep i' f' you. Ah'm naw see'n' my secon'-best r'por'r ou' on th' streets'.

With that, Bruce escorted Ethan inside, where he and Tina laid out food and drink; and with that done, waited until Ethan had shaved, bathed, and dressed, and sat with him as he ate.

Out came Ethan, and said: 'You two don' have t' wai' f' me'.

Tina answered: 'O' co'se we do. You don' need t' look after y'rself alone, Ethan, while w're here'.

Ethan sat and did justice to the food, and Bruce asked: 'Now y're fresh'ned up ag'in, now y' tell me: wha' happ'ned?'.

Said Ethan: 'You woul'n' b'lieve it'.

Said Bruce: 'Moonshine on Venus Ah woul'n'. Ah w's righ' th're, r'member? wh'n tha' Buraki monster tore thro' town an' fought th' L.A.P.D. an' ha'f the Army, an' wrap'd 'imself roun' 'at skyscraper like th' snake on a doctor's badge. Ah saw him, an' those weirdo Black Knights, an' the dinosaurs an' li'l dragons an' those gian' lizards wi' th' rocket-launchers on th'r backs; an' Ah saw 'm walk right thro' th' Army like i' weren' th're. Ah tried t' figh' th' Cap'n-Gen'l, whose sword shrank int' a butter-knife wh'n Ah tried t' hol' it. Th' only thing Ah won' b'lieve, is you let Sarah die wi'ou' a fight'.

Said Ethan: 'She's not dead; just gone. Gone where I'll never see her again. Buraki's dead, and so 're all the other monsters. The Good Imoogi killed him, and I killed all the others;–– with this medallion. The Cap'n-General blew up when he touched it, and so did the whole army. Then she went with the Imoogi. I came back'.

Said Bruce: 'All the way? By yourself? On foot? Well, in th't case, Ah'll give y' a few munce paid leave, 'ntil y' c'n do y'r job ag'in'.

Said Ethan: 'Y' don' have to;––'

Said Bruce: 'Yes Ah do. Ah'm no' havin' mah secon'-bes' r'por'r fallin' o'er on the job wit' shell-shock. Killed the Black Knights, huh? Don' look like they gawt much a chaince t' figh' back'.

Said Ethan: 'No. Thanks for looking out for me, you two'.

Said Bruce: 'Leas' w' c'd do. Whatcha gonna do naow?', and poured another round of coffees.

Said Ethan: 'I guess I'll take that leave, an' then go back t' work. I'll never stop missing Sarah, but I don' suppose I c'n let it keep me from livin'. She told me so, just as she left'.

Said Tina: 'Ah'm glad you two had the chance to say y'r good-byes, a' least. What about old Jack, who intr'duced you?'.

Said Ethan: 'He's gone too. I don' know if 'll ev' see 'm again. Maybe I will, and maybe won't'.

**Author's Note:**

> Any opinions?


End file.
